“We are facing the biggest energy security threat in history,” Fatih Birol, the head of the World Vitality Company, or IEA, told CNBC on Thursday.
“As of today, we’ve lost 13 million barrels per day of oil … and there are major disruptions in vital commodities,” he told Steve Sedgwick when it comes to at CNBC’s CONVERGE LIVE in Singapore.
Birol has previously warned that the Iran war and ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz would consequence in “the largest energy crisis we have ever faced” and urged governments to bolster their resilience with replacement vitality sources.
“I expect, first of all, nuclear power, will get a boost. … Renewables will grow very strongly — solar, wind and others — [and] I expect electric cars will benefit from this,” he notorious. Different fossil fuels could well possibly fabricate a comeback, he notorious.
“In some countries, I expect the coal may also see a push and go back up, especially in some big countries in Asia.”
Fatih Birol, government director of the World Vitality Company, joins CNBC CONVERGE LIVE in Singapore on April 23, 2026.
CNBC
The a must-hang maritime passage — thru which a mean 20 million barrels of oil and petroleum products were shipped on daily foundation earlier than the war — is currently below a “double-blockade” with neither Iran nor the U.S. allowing vessels to enter or exit the strait.
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Describing the strait as one among the area’s “main oil transit choke parts,” the IEA has warned that the closure will impression global financial speak, spur inflation and could well possibly consequence in vitality rationing. The company has warned of an impending jet gasoline crunch in Europe, with some countries going thru shortages inner weeks.
“Europe gets about 75% of its jet fuel from refineries in the Middle East and this is basically now [down to] zero. … Europe is now trying to get it from the U.S. and Nigeria. If we are not able to get, in Europe, additional imports from the countries now, we will be in difficulties,” Birol told CNBC on Thursday.
“I really hope, first of all, that the strait is opened and refinery exports start from there, but we may well need to take some measures in Europe to reduce air travel as well,” he mentioned.
A industrial vessel is considered off the waft of Dubai on April 20, 2026.
– | Afp | Getty Pictures
The 32-member IEA has tried to mitigate the impression of the worldwide vitality supply disruption by agreeing in March to delivery 400 million barrels of oil from emergency stockpiles.
Birol mentioned in early April that whereas the IEA would take be conscious of releasing a 2nd tranche of reserves, such a pass would signify a reprieve as an alternative of a resolution to the disaster, “This is only helping to reduce the pain, it will not be a cure,” he told the “In Good Company” podcast hosted by Nicolai Tangen, CEO of Norges Bank Investment Administration.
“The cure is opening up the Strait of Hormuz. We are gaining some time, but I don’t claim that this will be a solution, our stock release,” he added.
